The New York Times has identified Guren "Bobby" Zhou, a Shanghai-born entrepreneur under an active UK money laundering investigation, as the figure behind Aqua 1, the entity that paid $100mn for tokens tied to World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's flagship crypto firm.
Trumps' World Liberty Financial Took $100mn from UK Laundering Suspect: NYT
10 August 2026 - 02:18 UTC
By Oihyun Kim
Up to $75mn was distributed to a company controlled by Donald Trump and his three sons. The family of Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff also benefited.
Zhou previously ran a failed British hardwood flooring retailer. He then started Caduceus, a metaverse project that spent $7.6mn before its token became worthless in 2024, the same year he left London for Abu Dhabi after a UK court denied his application to remain, citing his 2021 money laundering arrest. Zhou has not been charged; two longtime employees have been.
A Web3Port entity in the British Virgin Islands was renamed Aqua 1 GP Limited two weeks before the purchase of WLFI tokens. A compliance expert told the Times the transaction should have triggered enhanced documentation on the funds' origin. World Liberty Financial said its compliance programme "meets or exceeds industry standards," but declined to say whether it knew where Zhou's money came from.
